Asset managers on alert after 'WhatsApp' crackdown on banks

LONDON, Aug 18 (Reuters): Asset managers are tightening controls on personal communication tools such as WhatsApp as they join banks in trying to ensure employees play by the rules when they do business with clients remotely.
Regulators had already begun to clamp down on the use of unauthorised messaging tools to discuss potentially market-moving matters, but the issue gathered urgency when the pandemic forced more finance staff to work from home in 2020.
Most of the companies caught in communications and record-keeping probes by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have been banks - which have collectively been fined or have set aside more than $1 billion to cover regulatory penalties.
But fund firms with billions of dollars in assets are also increasing their scrutiny of how staff and clients interact.
"It is the hottest topic in the industry right now," said one deals banker, who declined to be named in keeping with his employer's rules on speaking to the media.
Reuters reported last year the SEC was looking into whether Wall Street banks had adequately documented employees' work-related communications, and JPMorgan was fined $200 million in December for "widespread" failures.
German asset manager DWS said last month it had set aside 12 million euros ($12 million) to cover potential US fines linked to investigations into its employees' use of unapproved devices and record-keeping requirements, joining a host of banks making similar provisions, including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse.
Sources at several other investment firms - described in the financial community as the 'buy-side' - including Amundi, AXA Investment Management, BNP Paribas Asset Management and JPMorgan Asset Management, told Reuters they have deployed tools to keep all communications between staff and clients compliant.
Spokespeople for the SEC and CFTC declined to comment on whether their investigations could extend beyond the banks, but industry sources expect authorities to cast their nets wider across the finance industry and even into government.
Last month Britain's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the country's top data protection watchdog, called for a review of the use of WhatsApp, private emails and other messaging apps by government officials after an investigation found "inadequate data security" during the pandemic.